The US Army has begun fielding their new M110A1 Squad Designated Marksman Rifle or SDMR. The latest familiarisation initiative began at Fort Stewart, Georgia, earlier this month. Soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division (the Raiders) [Read More…]
North Carolina-based High Speed Gear have confirmed that they have been contracted to provide Heckler & Koch with more than 30,000 of their TACO magazine pouches as part of Heckler & Koch’s fulfilment of the Army squad designated marksman rifle contract. [Read More…]
The 82nd Airborne has been conducting jump testing of the Army’s new Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper (CSASS) rifle. In June, the 82nd’s snipers were issued the new sniper rifle and conducted operational testing during training exercises. The aim of the testing [Read More…]
The US Army has been testing its new precision rifles, the Squad Designated Marksman Rifle and the Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle and the first feedback from troops is coming in. Last year TFB reported the adoption of the two new rifles, which are both based on [Read More…]
The US Army has confirmed that the M110A1 Compact Semi-Auto Sniper System (CSASS) is due to undergo production qualification testing and should be approved for limited user testing in early 2019. Production qualification testing is carried out prior to full-rate [Read More…]
The US Army’s new Squad Designated Marksman Rifle, or SDM-R, is set to be fielded at the brigade level starting in September 2018, according to the Program Executive Office Soldier. The new rifle is based on the Heckler and Koch G28E / M110A1 Compact [Read More…]
After 3 successful years on the market with the Gen 3 folding stock adapter, Law Tactical brought their newest side-folding adapter, made specifically to fit the CSASS for display at NRAAM 2018. The limited-edition Winkler-Law Tactical SURV blade also made an [Read More…]
The US Marine Corps is interested in the Army’s Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS). Chambered in the longer ranged 7.62x51mm round, the CSASS has the edge over the Corps’ recently fielded M38 adaptation of the M27 IAR. While other outlets have [Read More…]
The US Army wants to give its soldiers more punch and reach: In the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Estimate Justification Book for the United States Army, the service outlined its strategy for procuring M110A1 Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS) rifles from Heckler [Read More…]
A long-awaited update on the much-delayed Compact Semiautomatic Sniper System program came with the recent Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing that was conducted Wednesday. In his testimony, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8 Lieutenant General John M. Murray told [Read More…]
Until now, the US Army’s 7.62mm XM1158 Advanced Armor Piercing (ADVAP) round has been a mystery. The round, which was rumored to be the basis for the now-cancelled Interim Combat Service Rifle (ICSR) program, is supposed to allow existing weapons in the 7.62x51mm [Read More…]
The US Army’s embattled CSASS program has moved forward slightly with a sources sought notice posted to the Fed Biz Opps website, seeking manufacturers who can make many of the accessories that equip the M110A1 rifle. The notice isn’t itself for a contract, [Read More…]
A warning against romanticism in military planning. In the early 1940s, the US Army Air Corps (USAAC) made a fateful decision that would affect the lives of tens of thousands of men over the next decade. Two years prior, the Army had just begun testing her newest [Read More…]
At the 2017 Association of the United States Army annual meeting, Oberndorf gunmaker Heckler & Koch had on display the latest configuration of their CSASS winning rifle, the G28E-based M110A1. The rifle is similar to the M110A1 displayed at the 2017 SHOT Show in Las [Read More…]
With the recent push for small arms ammunition with increased range, power and capability, are military customers in danger of being taken for a ride by industry marketeers working to sell rifles in new calibers? Is the primary driving force behind new infantry [Read More…]
We have just seen the cancellation of the Interim Combat Service Rifle, which gives me a good springboard to talk about marketing. Specifically, we will be discussing a kind of undercover word-of-mouth marketing that I’ve encountered a number of times over the [Read More…]
The US Army’s program to field a new standard-issue 7.62mm caliber rifle is dead in the water, it seems. Multiple anonymous sources have informed TFB that the Interim Combat Service Rifle program has been cancelled as part of a massive review of US Army small [Read More…]
Geissele has taken the step from manufacturing accessories, to making the guns themselves: The company released its new VSASS semiautomatic sniper rifle system at the Modern Day Marine 2017 industry demonstration. News of the new rifle was first broken by Soldier [Read More…]
The US Army has released a solicitation for a new 7.62mm infantry rifle to replace the M4. The Interim Combat Service Rifle program, known to be in the works since April of this year, would replace M4 Carbines in use with combat units with a new weapon in the 7.62x51mm [Read More…]
In January of 2001, the US Army introduced a new slogan to replace the classic “Be All You Can Be” which young men had recruited under for over two decades. The branch’s new slogan was “An Army of One”, signalling a brand new take on a [Read More…]
In the wake of Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley’s testimony to Congress on the present and future state of the US Army, there has been a significant amount of speculation and in some cases misleading reporting regarding his statements on small arms and [Read More…]
The United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is considering a caliber change for their future semiautomatic sniper weapons systems. Although traditionally these medium range precision weapons have been chambered for the 7.62x51mm caliber common to NATO, it seems [Read More…]
At the 2017 SHOT Show, Heckler & Koch was proudly displaying their victorious CSASS entrant, now designated the M110A1 by the US Army. The Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System competition was created to find a lighter weight, more compact sniper weapon system to [Read More…]
The “No Compromise” company Heckler & Koch is expanding into a new 50,000 square foot building in columbus. HK will invest $28.5 million to dig deeper into the US market. The building will be ready by the summer and about 85 jobs will be created over the [Read More…]
In the first two parts of this article on a new long range infantry rifle paradigm, we painted a picture of what sort of weapons would be needed to maximize the infantry’s long-range capability, in theory allowing them to achieve “overmatch” versus [Read More…]
Recent experience in Afghanistan, coupled with concerns about the effectiveness of the M4 Carbine – and perhaps also just a general long-term swing of the pendulum – has spurred many to advocate for a new configuration of infantry weapon centered around [Read More…]
Soldier Systems Daily is reporting from Modern Day Marine that the U.S. Army’s Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS) will be getting an upgrade from H&K in the form of Geissele rail systems, in particular it appears to be their Super Modular HK [Read More…]
It’s not April Fools’ (we already did that, thanks for playing along!), German gunmaker Heckler & Koch has apparently won the US Army’s Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System competition with its G28E incorporating a baffle-less OSS suppressor. This [Read More…]
Following up on a Sources Sought released back in 2012, the US Army is moving forward with a potential acquisition for the next-generation Semi-Auto Sniper System (SASS), the aptly named “Compact-SASS” (CSASS) through a best-value contract. The current SASS [Read More…]